Yet another one of Samsung’s Galaxy A (2019) refreshed models is nearing its debut. The Galaxy A70s (SM-A707F) support page is now live on Samsung India’s website. It doesn’t yet contain any information regarding the phone itself, but evidently, the company is making preparations for what might be the device’s imminent arrival.
The Galaxy A70s hasn’t leaked as much as its siblings – the Galaxy A30s and A50s – and last time the unit made it into our headlines was about a month ago when the device was spotted on Geekbench. Preliminary details hint at the Snapdragon 675 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and Android 9.
Galaxy A70s could ship with Note 10-like software features
The original Galaxy A70 was dubbed ‘a media consumption powerhouse’ in our review, in part thanks to great battery, and we expect the Galaxy A70s to build upon this foundation and hopefully leave us with a similarly-positive impression. Even more so if the Galaxy A50s refresh introduced in August is any indication.
As we’ve detailed in our hands-on story, the aforementioned device comes with One UI 1.5 and boasts a handful of software features lifted from the Galaxy Note 10, such as Link to Windows and Game Booster and flagship-grade functionality like Edge screen and Edge lighting. Given how the Galaxy A70s is positioned higher than the A50s in the Galaxy A (2019) series, the upcoming model will likely get these software features as well, and perhaps additional ones too.
Owners of the Samsung HMD Odyssey or HMD Odyssey+ are in for a treat. Starting today and until the end of the year, HMD Odyssey/Odyssey+ users can claim two months of free access to the VIVEPORT Infinity subscription service. The promo is available for both newcomers to the platforms as well as existing subscribers.
The VIVEPORT Infinity subscription normally costs around $13 a month, or $9 a month when choosing an annual billing cycle. The service offers unlimited access to more than 600 VR apps, free access to VIVEPORT Video, and cross-platform compatibility with other VR devices ranging from the Oculus Rift to the HTC Vive.
HMD Odyssey+ is now selling for $299
Samsung has been rather quiet about its VR ambitions lately, even though four months ago the company claimed to have ‘multiple AR and VR’ products planned for release ‘soon.’ The Galaxy Note 10 is the first flagship series launched over the past couple of years to abandon support for the Gear VR due to the Oculus partnership expiring, so the HMD Odyssey+ might be the best option left for Samsung fans and VR enthusiasts. For readers who might be interested in acquiring it, the headset is presently available for $299, down from the original $499 launch price.
To participate in the VIVEPORT campaign, download the VIVEPORT desktop app, connect the Samsung HMD Odyssey/Odyssey+ to the computer, and accept the promo offer. You can visit the VIVEPORT Odyssey campaign webpage for more details.
Samsung has an opportunity this year to bring more Galaxy Note enthusiasts on board with its iconic flagship series. Last month, the company went against its usual ways by launching two Galaxy Note 10 models instead of a single one. The Galaxy Note 10+ is the version towards which most existing Galaxy Note enthusiasts gravitate, while the Galaxy Note 10 is primarily targeted at newcomers to the S Pen. Technically, this could mean that the 2019 models might be adopted by a considerably higher number of first-time Galaxy Note owners compared to previous years.
The S Pen is, of course, the defining feature of the Galaxy Note series, and longtime users are likely very familiar with this tool. Newcomers or new prospective buyers, on the other hand, might be wondering what the S Pen is all about. For them, we have prepared a complete summary of the Galaxy Note 10 S Pen experience out of the box.
First, a brief look at the S Pen
The S Pen is what makes the Galaxy Note 10 stand apart from most other smartphones. It’s a digital stylus equipped with a physical button, an internal gyroscope, and a clicker button at the top which doesn’t have any practical applications. Its main function is to make the S Pen easier to remove from its slot, and it creates a satisfying clicking sound when it’s pressed. It’s a nice detail that can muster an analog feel when using an otherwise digital tool.
The Galaxy Note 10 S Pen is Bluetooth-enabled and has a small internal battery that lasts for up to 10 hours on a single charge. It recharges automatically when the S Pen is housed inside the phone, so you’ll probably never worry that it will run out of juice. It also has a removable nib and Samsung included two extra nibs along with a removal tool in the box.
The S Pen’s internal gyroscope is used for a new feature introduced by Samsung with the Note 10 series, called Air Actions. It’s a bit of a gimmick at this point and we don’t really consider it a part of the core Galaxy Note 10 experience. With that in mind, we won’t go into details about Air Actions right now but you can read more about it in one of our previous stories.
Getting to know Air command
Air command is the central point of the S Pen user experience. Think of it as your dedicated apps drawer – or tools drawer – for the S Pen. By default, the Air command menu launches as soon as you remove the S Pen from its slot, presenting a list of S Pen software tools available out of the box.
The Air command menu can also be summoned by tapping the small, circular stylus icon with the tip of the S Pen. This icon, which is visible only when the S Pen is removed, can be relocated anywhere on the screen by dragging and dropping it using the S Pen.
The list of available tools shown inside the Air command menu can be customized but it is restricted to holding only 10 items at a time. You can choose which tools/apps to show up in the list by tapping the cogwheel icon in the lower-left corner of the Air command screen, then tapping Shortcuts.
By default, the complete list of Air command tools should contain: AR Doodle, Bixby Vision, Coloring, Create note, Glance, Live messages, Magnify, PENUP, Screen write, Smart select, Translate, View all notes, and Write on calendar.
These are your main S Pen tools available on the Galaxy Note 10 series out of the box, and you will interact with them the most. What follows is a brief overview of each of these aforementioned features (in alphabetical order), but do keep in mind that additional S Pen functionalities can sometimes crop up when using various other apps or features that don’t reside under the Air command umbrella.
An example of this is the Screen recorder tool accessible from the quick toggle menu in the notification shade. It lets you write on the screen while you’re recording it, albeit it doesn’t differentiate between the S Pen and your fingertip, while most Air command tools treat the S Pen as its own thing.
AR Doodle
AR Doodle is a new addition to the Galaxy Note series. As the moniker implies, AR Doodles is a camera feature, and even though it’s not accessible through the Camera app itself, it relies heavily on the smartphone’s depth-sensing capabilities. AR Doodle will start searching for a human face in the viewfinder as soon as it launches, but users can also tap the Everywhere button at the top and start doodling everywhere in 3D space.
Doodles created with the S Pen will try to maintain their original location in 3D AR (Augmented Reality) space. Ultimately, the idea behind AR Doodle is to give users the ability to draw AR objects in the viewfinder using the S Pen and then record the virtual objects using the phone’s camera. It’s not quite about productivity as much as it is about having a bit of fun. You can see AR Doodle in action in our Galaxy Note 10 hands-on video (timestamped at the 3:13-minute mark).
Bixby Vision
Bixby Visioncan be viewed as an AI-powered search engine that relies on image recognition. It allows you to highlight objects, text, or QR codes on your screen using the S Pen, and depending on what you’re scanning, Bixby Vision will either search for a list of products that match your criteria or it will allow you to translate text on the fly. It can do this on webpages, in the Gallery, in the viewfinder, and virtually anywhere the tool can be summoned.
Finding objects through web searches via Bixby Vision usually leads to a mixed bag of results. Oftentimes the app either doesn’t get what you’re trying to show it, or it lists a number of generic products, trying to match your criteria based on color, shape, company logos, etc.
Results will vary, but one of Bixby Vision’s strengths is that it can translate text, and this feature works as well as you would expect. You can translate text on webpages, in documents, or by pointing the camera at the desired subject, so it can be very useful when traveling abroad.
Coloring and PENUP
We’ve bunched Coloring and PENUP together in the same category because they are virtually part of the same app. More specifically, Coloring is a digital coloring book complete with a bucket tool, and it’s technically one of the PENUP’s main features.
PENUP is a digital drawing tool, but not quite in the vein of Adobe Photoshop Sketchbook or Autodesk Sketch. It’s more of a social network for the artistically-inclined. It allows users to create new drawings or access the Coloring section which includes premade drawings that need a bit of color.
PENUP puts a handful of brushes at your disposal with options for size and opacity, but the range of tools is somewhat lacking. The bucket tool is inexplicably available only in the Coloring section, and there is no option for layers. Nevertheless, it’s a good enough place to start if you wish to doodle or create rough thumbnails on the Galaxy Note 10 and share them with other people. It can be quite entertaining because of the social aspect surrounding it, and Live drawings along with Challenges can be motivating.
Create Note/View all notes (Samsung Notes)
Both Create note and View all notes are part of the Samsung Notes app, so, once again, we’re covering both of these features in a single category. View all notes is essentially a shortcut to Samsung Notes’ main screen, and Create note is just as self-explanatory. What might not be obvious is the fact that the Galaxy Note 10 is true to its name and has pushed the idea of taking digital notes to a new level.
Samsung Notes is a fantastic tool for taking notes, and in the long run, it will probably remain at the center of your Galaxy Note experience while some of the other features mentioned today could blend more into the background. It’s essentially an app for taking notes with the S Pen, but it offers a wide range of tools, from different brush types and a color wheel to more advanced features including handwriting recognition and transcription.
With Samsung Notes you can virtually write on your screen using the S Pen and convert your handwriting into text with just a few screen taps. There are plenty of editing tools, options for bullet-point lists, text alignment, and more. You can even add images, audio, or voice recordings to your text files, or change the color and thickness of your existing handwriting. Samsung Notes is undoubtedly one of the more fully-fledged S Pen software tools available on the Galaxy Note 10 out of the box.
Glance
Glance is a simple but effective S Pen feature that allows users to minimize a running app in a small floating window on the screen. The app will quickly switch to full screen mode when you hover the S Pen over the preview window, and it will minimize again as soon as you move the S Pen away from the screen for a brief moment.
Glance seems situational but it can be quite useful in cases when you might want to work on a document in full screen while keeping another app or webpage within reach. Granted, a similar result can be achieved using the Recent apps screen or the Split Screen view functionality, but Glance can arguably be more convenient in some situations when you might have to switch back and forth between two apps more than a few times. Besides, Split Screen view is not supported by every third-party app, yet Glance seems to be working fine with every app we’ve thrown at it (including Netflix).
Live messages
Live messages lets you write or doodle with the S Pen on a background of your choosing, such as an image/video from the Gallery, the viewfinder, or a solid/gradient color. Out of all the Air command features listed in this entire summary, Live messages must be the only one to have a rather misleading name.
Technically, it’s a GIF and MP4 recorder for your S Pen. Therefore, any recordings created using Live messages are not actually “Live,” while the “messages” part is left to the user. A share button does appear once you’ve created a Live message, but the file is otherwise sent to the Gallery.
You can select brushes with interesting glittery/neon effects for your doodles and text, but despite its moniker, the tool doesn’t offer a direct communication channel with other Galaxy Note users who might want to exchange so-called Live messages with you. Instead, you’re supposed to share your Live messages through the social media platform of your choice, much like you would share any other files.
Magnify
Going back to tools with self-explanatory names, Magnify is a magnifying tool that can be handy when pinch-to-zoom might not be an option. The rectangular zoom window is always under the tip of your S Pen and has two size options along with four zoom options. It’s a simple but effective tool, just like a magnifier should be.
Screen write
Launching Screen write will automatically create a screenshot of your current screen and allow you to jot down notes on it. The tool offers six brushes, five brush sizes, an eraser tool, a color wheel, as well as Undo and Redo options. Once you’ve prepared your screenshot, you can tap the buttons at the top to either share or save the file for later use.
Screen off memo
Speaking of writing on the screen, although Screen off memo is not listed in the Air command menu, it is tied to Samsung Notes so we figured we should mention it nonetheless. Screen off memo allows you to jot down notes on the screen as soon as you remove the S Pen from the slot while the screen is sleeping.
You can take notes in an instant without having to unlock the phone. Once you do unlock the device, the memo will be saved in Samsung Notes and can be accessed from its own category inside the app.
Smart select
Smart select is a cropping tool that features a text extractor and a GIF maker. The Smart select toolbar accommodates rectangular, elliptical, and free-form cropping tools. You can move the crop on the screen or pin it, and even extract text from it if the tool finds any.
Meanwhile, the GIF option could’ve probably been its own separate S Pen feature. It allows you to record cropped parts of your screen in high or standard quality and create 15 seconds GIFs. You can find a detailed guide on using Smart select and Smart write in this extensive article.
Translate
With Translate, you can hover the S Pen over a word or sentence on your phone’s screen and translate it from one language to another. Like Bixby Vision, Translate can detect text anywhere on the screen, even on the camera viewfinder. However, Translate requires a bit more precision from the user because it relies on you to keep the S Pen pointed at the desired word/sentence. As such, if you don’t have a very steady hand and you wish to translate something in the wild, we’d recommend taking a photo of your subject first and then using Translate inside the Gallery app.
Write on calendar
Last but not least, Write on calendar allows you to jot down notes on your calendar. The same feature can also be accessed from the Calendar app itself by tapping the S Pen icon at the top. Once again, a handy tool if you wish to quickly make a note for an appointment, but then again, the feature is also rather lacking.
The problem with Write on calendar is that it only allows users to write text on the Month screen. For whatever reason, Write on calendar is not supported in any other calendar screens such as Year, Week, or Day. This poses a problem as the Month screen can get a bit too cluttered with text if you wish to make notes for more than a couple of events in a single month. It’s not all that elegant, it can get messy, and despite the Note 10’s obvious text transcription capabilities, notes handwritten with Write on calendar can’t be automatically converted into events or reminders.
The Galaxy Note 10 is a great smartphone boasting a wide variety of productivity tools, some of which are more useful than others. Keep in mind that the S Pen experience is not limited only to the features listed above, and as mentioned previously, additional S Pen options can crop up in other applications even if they may not show up in the Air command menu. Likewise, there are numerous third-party apps that can take advantage of the S Pen or work well with a stylus, so you can try and improve your Note 10 experience even further.
What is your favorite Galaxy Note 10 S Pen tool available out of the box, and how often do you use it in conjunction with your S Pen? Feel free to join us in the comment section.
With ultra-wide cameras and dedicated Night shooting modes becoming more and more common on smartphones, DxOMark has finally caught up with market trends and updated its camera test scores to reflect a smartphone’s low-light and ultra-wide imaging capabilities, and the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G has topped both categories and continues to be the best smartphone for still photos. The Note 10+ 5G tied with the Galaxy S10 5G and the Huawei P30 Pro in the Night score but maintained a solid 4-point lead in the Wide category over the closest rival, the Sony Xperia 1.
DxOMark’s updated Night camera test includes performance with the flash turned on and off, the flash set to auto, and with the dedicated Night mode if a smartphone has one. The Note 10+ 5G (and the Galaxy S10 5G) can expose faces nicely when the flash is turned on but has low dynamic range and detail. With the flash turned off, Samsung’s flagship exposes night cityscapes pretty well but loses detail; in extreme low-light, it strongly underexposes most images.
However, exposure can be improved in Night mode pictures, something we have noticed in our own testing of Samsung’s Night mode on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10, although DxOMark believes the P30 Pro offers brighter pictures and the Note 10+ 5G doesn’t do much about detail levels. But, considering the P30 Pro has a primary rear camera with a megapixel count more than three times higher than Samsung’s flagship phones, it’s a solid achievement for the Note 10+ 5G and the S10 5G to come out on top in overall low-light performance.
As for the Wide category, the Note 10+ 5G and S10 5G took home 42 and 40 points respectively. DxOMark praised the former for maintaining good image quality despite having a wider field of view (123 degrees) than many of its direct competitors. The S10 5G was lamented for not having enough detail in ultra-wide shots, so clearly Samsung has made a few modifications to its camera algorithms on the Galaxy Note 10 lineup (yes, even though DxOMark has tested the Note 10+ 5G, you can expect the same camera performance in the LTE Note 10+ and the Galaxy Note 10).
While Samsung continues padding its Galaxy A (2019) mid-range smartphone lineup with new models like the Galaxy A30s and Galaxy A50s, the company is also laying down the foundations of its Galaxy A (2020) series and has seemingly done so for some time. The lineup could include up to nine models, according to a trademark filed a couple of months ago, and should accommodate devices such as the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71, both of which are now the subject of a fresh leak revealing their storage and color options.
Galaxy A51 and A71 storage and color options emerge
MySmartPrice recently reported on the Galaxy A51 and A71’s storage and color options, and in the meantime, we’ve been able to confirm with our own sources that the information is correct. The Galaxy A51 will be identified by the model number SM-A515 and will launch with 64GB and 128GB of storage in silver, black, and blue. The Galaxy A71 will unsurprisingly carry the model number SM-A715. The device will be offered with 128GB of storage and possibly other configurations that have yet to be confirmed. It will ship in black, silver, blue, as well as pink.
The 2019 Galaxy A50 and A70 were introduced in February and March, respectively, and it’s likely that the Galaxy A51 and A71 will be unveiled in the same timeframe next year. Early rumors suggest the Galaxy A (2020) lineup could benefit from drastic camera upgrades and hint at the inclusion of a ToF sensor for the Galaxy A71. This has yet to be confirmed by our sources but we’ll keep you updated as soon as we find out more. Samsung is also seemingly testing a new Exynos 9630 chipset which could end up lending its prowess to the Galaxy A51, but only time will tell if the device will continue offering excellent value for money like its predecessor did half a year ago.
Should ship with Android 10
Samsung is already testing Android 10 for the Galaxy Note 10, and by the time the Galaxy A (2020) series debuts early next year, Samsung will have already introduced Android 10 to a number of existing higher-end devices. It’s very likely that the entire Galaxy A (2020) series will ship with Android 10, much like the 2019 lineup shipped with Android 9 out of the box. At the very least, the Galaxy A71 was spotted on Geekbench a few weeks ago running Android 10, and the Galaxy A91 is also reportedly in development in conjunction with Google’s latest mobile OS version.
The Galaxy Note 9 is arguably one of the best flagship smartphones to hit the market in 2018. From it’s battery to the power package, it has everything one could ask for. Check out our review to get a better idea of what it has to offer. Now that newer devices have arrived, the opportunity rises to get the ‘older’ versions for decent prices. The Galaxy Note 9 is now discounted 26% which makes this the perfect time to upgrade from your current device. It also ships to a lot of countries for little extra so you can get the Galaxy Note 9 discounted wherever you are.
Use the Buy Now button below to grab one while they’re still in stock!
Samsung has released the latest Android security patch for the Galaxy S8/S8+, Galaxy A80, and Galaxy A5 (2017). An update is rolling out for these devices in various markets, with software version G95*FXXS5DSI1, A805FXXS2ASI2, and A520FXXUBCSI1 for the S8/S8+, A80, and A5 (2017) respectively.
The Galaxy S8 update has been released in a handful of European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Bolivia (the update for Bolivia has a slightly different software version — G95*FXXS5DSI4 — than the rest). The Galaxy A80 is being updated in Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Paraguay, Panama, and India, while the A5 (2017) is getting the update in Russia, Croatia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. None of the devices are getting anything other than the September security patch with these updates.
If you own a Galaxy A80, Galaxy S8/S8+ or Galaxy A5 (2017) in one of the markets listed above, you can download the update over the air by going into the Software update menu of the device’s Settings app. You can also upgrade by flashing the latest firmware for your phone – you can download them from our firmware database.
Samsung has been reduced to a fringe player in the Chinese smartphone market with the company’s market share dropping below 1% in recent quarters. The scale of its decline in the world’s largest smartphone market can be gauged from the fact that the Korean company once used to hold around 20% market share there.
Samsung has vowed to improve its performance on many occasions in the past, but none of its efforts have yielded any noticeable results yet. In what appears to be a new strategy, the company is now pinning its hopes on a diverse lineup of localized 5G devices to improve its smartphone business in the country.
The Korean tech giant recently launched the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G in the country. It is also expected to release the Galaxy Fold in 5G flavor sometime next month. The company’s China-exclusive premium flip phone will reportedly come with 5G capabilities as well. There are apparently a few other 5G models scheduled to hit the Chinese market this year.
“The Galaxy Note 10+ 5G is just the start for China’s 5G market. We hope our new products will help Samsung reclaim its leading role in China,” a Samsung official is reported as saying during the launch event in China.
It is not clear why Samsung believes 5G will give it an edge over other OEMs in the market. Chinese brands have been quick to adapt to market trends and release devices that compete with the offerings from established players like Samsung and Apple. Many Chinese smartphone companies have already started selling or teasing 5G models.
Samsung’s Galaxy M series of phones has been a major success in the Indian market. The Galaxy M20 turned out to be the most value-for-money budget phone from the Korean giant, an answer to the incredible value propositions offered by Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, and a giant battery (5,000 mAh) was one of the key features that set the Galaxy M20 apart. Later on, Samsung released the Galaxy M30, which brought a couple of upgrades, including a Super AMOLED display and an extra rear camera, over the Galaxy M20.
Now, the Galaxy M30s has arrived as an upgraded Galaxy M30, and Samsung has once again focused on battery capacity as one of the highlights. The Galaxy M30s has a 6,000 mAh battery under the hood, the biggest we’ve ever seen on any Galaxy phone, no matter which price segment it may fall in. The other notable feature on the M30s is a 48MP primary rear camera. That’s nearly a 5x increase in the megapixel count over the M30 and higher than even the Galaxy A70.
The Galaxy M30s comes with the Exynos 9611 chipset, which seems to be the same as the Galaxy A50’s Exynos 9610, along with 4GB/6GB of RAM and 64GB/128GB of storage. The M30s also gets a design update, mainly in the way the rear cameras and flash module are placed. The rest is pretty much the same as the Galaxy M30. There’s a 6.4-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U display, 5MP and 8MP depth and ultra-wide rear cameras, a 16MP front camera, 15W fast charging, and a physical rear-facing fingerprint sensor.
Does the Galaxy M30s offer enough improvements over the Galaxy M30? Is it a good alternative to other Galaxy phones with similar price tags, like the Galaxy A50 or Galaxy M40? The answers await you at the end of this review, so let’s get started.
Galaxy M30s design
For the Galaxy M30s design, Samsung has switched things up a bit for the rear panel. Like the Galaxy M30, there’s a two-tone gradient finish at the back, but while the M30’s rear panel changed color towards the bottom of the phone, the M30s has like a 70:30 vertical split. The blue variant that Samsung sent us turns green on the side, and the company has also added tiny little dots that shimmer when the light hits them. Frankly, that shimmer makes the phone look cheap, and something like the prism pattern from the Galaxy A50s would have looked much better.
Another design change is the way the rear camera sensors and the LED flash are placed. The flash now sits inside the cutout for the cameras and on the right of the top-most sensor, with the text ’48 megapixels’ below it. Samsung has clearly taken inspiration from Huawei here – the Chinese OEM makes it a point to mention things like ‘AI Camera’ alongside the camera assembly on its phones. Samsung has taken a classier approach, however, by using a small and faint font. In fact, the triple camera setup looks quite classy overall, letting you somewhat ignore all that shimmer.
Despite the 1,000 mAh battery upgrade, the M30s hasn’t gained a lot of weight or thickness – it weighs 188 grams and has a 8.9mm profile, just 14 grams and 0.4 mm more than the Galaxy M30. It feels sufficiently compact and light for a phone with a 6,000 mAh battery, and the plastic back offers solid grip. The plastic back doesn’t feel very premium, though. It doesn’t feel cheap, either, but with companies like Xiaomi selling budget phones with glass backs at considerably lower prices, this is one area that Samsung may want to focus on for future M series phones.
It’s worth noting that the Galaxy M30s doesn’t come with a free case in the box, unlike the Galaxy A series phones and Samsung’s flagship devices. The box doesn’t include earphones, either, something that’s common across all Galaxy M smartphones, although Samsung hasn’t ditched the headphone jack. It’s also good to see the company sticking to a physical fingerprint sensor, because the optical in-display sensors on devices like the Galaxy A50 aren’t nearly as accurate or quick as traditional fingerprint readers.
Galaxy M30s display
The Galaxy M30s has a 6.4-inch Infinity-U Super AMOLED display, same as the Galaxy M30. The panel seems to be unchanged, which is okay since the M30’s Super AMOLED display was pretty good just by virtue of being a Super AMOLED panel. The display mode is set to Natural out of the box so the colors don’t pop as much as they do on the M30, but you can change that with a quick trip into the display settings. Brightness levels are high and I didn’t face any issues with legibility even with the full might of the sun falling on the phone.
The size of the bezels has remained unchanged as well. The bottom bezel is twice as thick as the bezel on the top and sides, and I wish Samsung had done something about this. After all, the M30s is launching a month or so after the Galaxy Note 10, and while I understand the company simply took a Galaxy M30 and made some changes to make the M30s, the asymmetrical bezels can be an eyesore. The waterdrop notch at the top is far less distracting, and you’ll be ignoring it in everyday use in no time.
Galaxy M30s camera quality
The Galaxy M30s has a 48MP primary camera on the back that’s accompanied by 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP depth cameras. The camera uses pixel binning to create 12-megapixel photos by default, so you don’t actually get 48MP files. And the results are pretty good. Detail in daylight shots is impressive, although the camera tends to overexpose brightly lit parts of the scene, such as the red flowers you see in one of the samples below. Pictures tend to lose detail in low-light conditions, but the M30s took brighter night pictures than the Galaxy M30 could manage with its 13MP rear camera.
There’s also a dedicated Night mode that brightens up the scene, but it doesn’t seem to increase any detail and also overexposes light sources. Night mode pictures also crop the image a bit, and there’s no option to take Night mode pictures with the ultra-wide pictures, another feature you find on the flagship Galaxies. It’s a shame, to be honest, as the ultra-wide camera benefits more from Night mode owing to the narrower aperture and lower lens quality, but then it’s not surprising Samsung is keeping the functionality limited to its high-end offerings.
Here are two images shot using the regular Photo mode and Night mode:
Ultra-wide photos taken in daylight don’t have a lot of detail, and compared to the Galaxy M30 or the Galaxy M40, nothing has changed here. Samsung is still sticking to an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor with F2.2 aperture, and it’s only just good for fitting more in a scene and won’t win any prizes in image quality. As far as bokeh pictures with the Live Focus mode is concerned, background separation is pretty good in well lit conditions, and you get new blur effects from the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 series. Color point, which changes the background to black and white, is the most attractive of the lot.
The Galaxy M30s also comes with a number of other camera features, like AR Emoji, Super Slow-mo video recording, a regular slow motion mode, and a Super Steady mode that uses the ultra-wide cameras to record action camera-like videos with reduced shake. All of these are basic implementations compared to what you find on flagship Galaxy phones, and I even found that Super Slow-mo videos and regular slow motion videos both seem to run at the same speed, even though the former are supposed to be four times slower than the latter.
The M30s’ 16-megapixel front camera has carried forward unchanged from the Galaxy M30. Selfies have a good amount of detail, and the camera also manages to capture realistic skin tones, at least outdoors during the day. At night, selfies are usually overexposed, and you lose much of the detail and noise can creep in as well. You can take Live Focus selfies, and background separation in these is mostly excellent, except for the usual artefacts around loose hair. Like with rear camera bokeh shots, you can change the background blur effect in Live Focus selfies from the Gallery app.
Galaxy M30s performance
The Exynos 9611 that powers the Galaxy M30s has four 2.3GHz Cortex-A73 cores for demanding tasks, four 1.74GHz Cortex-A53 cores for general use, and a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU, just like the Exynos 9610 that powers the Galaxy A50. Unfortunately, while the specs on the SoC are good on paper, performance on the M30s leaves something to be desired. It runs well when you’re generally navigating through the user interface, apps launch fairly quickly, and animations don’t stutter.
However, I saw notable lag when switching between apps, and Google apps like Maps also suffered from plenty of stutter. It’s rather unfortunate that Samsung can’t optimize its software here in 2019 to make its budget phones run as well as budget phones from the competition, even with a chip like the Exynos 9610/9611. As I keep pointing out, Snapdragon chips in the same segment perform much better on Galaxy phones, and I really wish Samsung would just stop using its Exynos chips altogether, even if that means the company might have to price its smartphones a little higher.
The Galaxy A50 had similar performance issues in day-to-day use, but it handled gaming with aplomb, and that’s the case on the Galaxy M30s as well. Games like Asphalt 9, Modern Combat 5, and Clash of Clans run without hiccups, and so do lighter games with less complex graphics. PUBG also runs great as long as you stick to the default graphics settings. The phone does heat up a bit with long gaming sessions, but never to the point of it being a problem.
Galaxy M30s software
The Galaxy M30s runs Android Pie with Samsung’s One UI 1.5 interface, like the Galaxy Note 10. However, as with other M series phones, the M30s offers a rather minimal set of features. There’s no Bixby Voice, no Bixby Routines, or the Link to Windows feature from the Galaxy Note 10. Unlike the Galaxy A50s, it doesn’t have Samsung Pay, either. However, unlike other M series phones, the M30s comes with some basic tools that are common on higher-end Galaxy phones, like the Smart capture feature that allows you to take multi-page screenshots.
The Galaxy M30s also comes with Game Booster, an upgraded version of Samsung’s Game Tools that debuted on the Note 10. Game Booster has much of the same functionality – recording gameplay video and taking screenshots, blocking notifications for incoming calls and disabling auto brightness while a game is running, locking navigation bar buttons, and saving power when the device is locked while a game is running. But it adds two important functions: measuring device temperature and how much battery time you’ll have to play a game.
Features like a system-wide Night mode, blue light filter, Always On Display, facial recognition, themes, Digital Wellbeing, and motion gestures like lift-to-wake and double-tap-to-wake screen are included, but that’s about it. Perhaps Android 10 will bring some new features to the device, but we will have to wait until sometime next year before we find out. Yes, the Galaxy M30s will get Android 10 and possibly Android 11 as well, considering Samsung provided two major OS upgrades to all of its Galaxy J series phones from the last two years.
Galaxy M30s battery life
For a budget/lower-mid-range phone with a 6,000 mAh battery, you would expect the Galaxy M30s to have record-shattering battery life, but that’s not exactly the case. While the M30s has a 1,000 mAh larger battery than the Galaxy M20 and Galaxy M30, it has to be noted that it also has a more power-hungry processor inside. Where the Exynos 7904 on the M20 and M30 has two high-performance processor cores and six efficiency cores, the Exynos 9611 has four high-performance cores and is, therefore, less frugal.
And that’s likely why I’ve not seen battery life that’s a whole lot better than the Galaxy M20 or M30, or even notably so. The M30s will last you a full day no matter how heavily you use it, but don’t expect it to last two days on a single charge with anything but light usage, especially with Always On Display enabled and two SIM cards active at all times. Disable Always On Display and endurance will improve, but since the battery life with AOD enabled is quite excellent as well, I would recommend keeping it on because of how useful it is now that Samsung isn’t putting notification LEDs on its phones.
The Galaxy M30s has the usual 15W fast charging tech, so it takes around two hours and a half to reach full charge. 60 minutes of charging from 7 percent took the phone to around 38% battery in my testing, and after seeing the 25W charging speeds on the Note 10+, that felt a little too long. It would have been nice to see at least 18W fast charging on the M30s, but it looks like we will have to wait longer to see faster charging tech on Samsung’s sub-$300 smartphones.
Galaxy M30s audio and call quality
The Galaxy M30s has a single bottom-firing loudspeaker that doesn’t distort at full volume but could have done with a little more bass. Actually, it should have been louder, too. It’s good enough for a small room, but not for, say, your living room. It’s especially quiet during calls – I could barely make out what the person on the other end was saying when using the speaker for a call and had to use the earpiece even in a quiet room at 10 o’clock in the night.
Call quality itself seemed fine, and network performance on both SIM slots is good as well. As for audio quality over earphones, I tested the phone with the earphones Samsung bundles with the Galaxy A50s, and it’s the same story as other non-flagship Galaxy phones: Too much treble that overpowers the lower frequencies. Enabling Dolby Atmos adds a fullness to the sound and slightly increases the volume, but you will need to have higher-quality earphones to really enjoy watching your favorite movies and TV shows on the M30s.
Galaxy M30s verdict
If you have made it through the review, you would have noticed I had many complaints. Yes, the Galaxy M30s isn’t perfect, but for the asking price, well, those imperfections don’t matter all that much. The Rs. 13,999 starting price in India is lower than the M30’s launch price, and you get features that would seem downright impossible on a Samsung phone in this price range just a few months ago. The M30s offers excellent battery life, a beautiful Super AMOLED display, the Exynos 9611 processor that performs great in games, and a high-resolution primary rear camera.
Again, the M30s falters in some areas – performance in day-to-day use needs more optimization, the software could do with more features, and low-light camera performance could be better. But, when it comes to the value-for-money quotient, the Galaxy M30s is undoubtedly the new champion in Samsung’s budget lineup and gets a hearty recommendation.
Pros
Cons
Excellent Super AMOLED display
Google apps like Maps stutter, switching between apps can have some lag
Amazing battery life
Cameras don’t do great in low-light conditions
Cameras perform well in daylight, features like Super Slow-mo video recording
Battery life not wholly better than the M30 likely due to more power-hungry processor
Android Pie with One UI 1.5 out of the box
Software too barebones, lacks many useful features, like Bixby Routines
Ultra-wide camera is useful as always, bokeh shots come out well
No earphones in the box
Good performance in games and most day-to-day tasks
